Caucasus Mountains, Georgia

Sitting at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, Georgia has a rich cultural heritage and a complex geopolitical history. Over the centuries, it experienced conflicts with Turkey and Persia before being annexed by Russia in the 19th century. Despite its small size, Georgia’s landscapes are remarkably varied — from alpine mountains and Black Sea beaches to remote southern grasslands and arid eastern wine-growing plains. This set of Caucasus Mountains photos comes from a two-week road trip through Georgia, following a failed attempt to travel with two donkeys between the outskirts of Tbilisi and Tsalka.

For historical photographs of the Caucasus and other parts of Georgia, see the early 20th-century work of George Kennan, an American photographer who travelled extensively through the Russian Empire, reaching as far as Kamchatka and Siberia’s Arctic coast. (He shares the same name and birthday with his cousin twice removed — the historian and diplomat.)

With its wealth of historical sites, diverse landscapes, and distinct cultural regions, deciding where to travel in Georgia can be difficult. Highlights include the ancient capitals of Kutaisi and Mtskheta (3,000–5,000 years old), Ushguli, Europe’s highest permanently inhabited settlement, and Georgia’s highest peak, Shkhara (5,193 m) — though Kazbek (5,054 m) is climbed more often. Across the border in Russia stands Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), Europe’s tallest peak; you can read my ExplorersWeb story
on the mountain.

Georgia can be reached by air via Tbilisi, Kutaisi, or Sokhumi, as well as by land borders and ferry services across the Black Sea.

An older woman with a black gown clutches her purse as she walks past a covered market in Kutaisi, Georgia.
Green fields overlook a reservoir in Georgia, Caucasus, with large dried up sections of lake bed.
Hundreds of village houses in Kvemo Kartli region in Georgia seen from a hillside.
A rusted gate leading to an overgrown and abandoned garden.
A red haired woman wearing a flowery skirt and red top walks through a flea market in Tbilisi.
A small white Lada off road car parked outside a village shop in a Georgian mountain town.
An abandoned or partly built Georgian farmhouse in the southern Caucasus.
An abandoned farmhouse sits in an overgrown field near the Turkish border.
A collection of abandoned farmhouses sit in remote and verdant plains near the Turkish-Georgian border.
Light clouds in blue skies above a big field of yellow flowers and grass.
A cow herder with a stick walks down the road tending to his herd.
A man crouched down next to a cute little donkey with a red bridle.
An asphalt road leading to Turkey is blocked by a herd of cows crossing the road.
Hundreds of sheep graze at a remote farmstead in southern Georgia.
Night time photo of Tbilisi, Georgia housing estate blocks with dozens of apartment lights turned on.
An old farm wall constructed from boulders overlooks an abandoned village in southern Georgia.
Steep vegetated cliffs of Dashbashi Canyon with the Church of St. George atop a hill on the right.
Sideview of a rusted brown house with corrugated panelling and a green fence.
A large wooden and corrugated metal roof house on stilts overlooks a verdant Georgian valley.
A blue van in the mountains, with rugged-looking huts in the background and boys herding cows.
A big flock of white sheep wander beside the roadside with a herder.
Black and white photo of an old theatre building in Georgia with three doors and two men stood outside.
A dirt road leading south to Turkey cuts through a wild and lush plateau.
An old church in the background with a dilapidated home in the foreground.
A small hut in a sleepy Georgian village with a wooden attic and concrete ground floor.
A pastel pink two-floored wooden hut in southern Georgia.
A one floor village house with an overgrown front garden in southern Georgia.
Three men approach a cross to pray, near the shores of misty lake in southern Georgia.
A storm front mixed with mist rolls over a lake and towards a farmstead.
A rusted brown metal fence in a Georgian village guards an overgrown garden.
The multicoloured balconies of an apartment block in Batumi on Georgia's Black Sea coast.
Shoppers in a covered market in Kutaisi shop for fruit and vegetables.
A rusted white and green coloured booth plastered in a few flyers.
Tsalka Greek Orthodox Church stands atop a green hill next to Dashbashi Canyon in Georgia.
A straight dirt path cuts through a flower filled agricultural field.
A flea market in Tbilisi with vendors chatting next to their tea pots for sale.
Close-up photo of an abandoned hut with a lock on the door.
Southern Georgia countryside with cloudy skies framed through a window of an abandoned house.
A rustic looking concrete bridge stretches out across a train station in Georgia.
A woman crouches down next to a donkey tied to a tree.
An older dog curled up and sleeping in a dry doorway in Tbilsi, trying to avoid the rain.
Rows of disused and rusting train carriages sit at a train station.
An old Georgian house in a mountain village, overgrown with vegetation.
Abandoned mountain village home in Georgia with wooden beams overhead and a lopsided door.
A steep roofed bus shelter in a mountain village in southern Georgia.
A covered promenade with shopping stalls and vendors either side.
The stone-built Khertvisi Fortress stands atop a green hill near the cave town of Vardzia.
A waterlogged dirt road cuts through agricultural fields lined by rows of evergreen trees.
Old farm house beside a dirt road in Georgia.
Rows of telephone poles running along the length of a lake near Tsalka, Georgia.
A dirt road winds its way down through the mountains towards Batumi.
Red and white carpeted walkway extends out across shingle beach in Batumi, leading towards the Black Sea.
Side view of a one floor farm hut in a quiet southern Georgia mountain village.
Close-up look of a metallic Soviet emblem welded onto a truck.
Train tracks framed through a square crack in a bridge in Georgia, Caucasus.

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